strangers
by coffee-not-decaf
Summary: "What's your name again?" The bloke asked him, rocking back and forth on the balls of his feet as if he was anxious for something, though Arthur couldn't say what. Oh, right – kissing. They were going to be kissing soon.


Whatever Arthur had been expecting, it wasn't this.

When Morgana had somehow, with her conniving she-devil qualities, convinced him to partake in a film experiment with kissing a complete stranger on camera, he had agreed with a heaving, exasperated sigh, knowing that if he refused, she would be an incessant badger about the issue for at least a month. But he had, in his mind's eye, been picturing his partner to be a soft, pretty young girl with doe eyes and a gentle smile.

He had _not _pictured a tall, skinny man with wild curly dark hair hidden under a black beanie, with a wicked smile and eyes that danced with mirth.

He hadn't even pictured that a little bit.

"What's your name again?" The bloke asked him, rocking back and forth on the balls of his feet as if he was anxious for something, though Arthur couldn't say what. Oh, right – kissing. They were going to be kissing soon.

"Erm, Arthur," Arthur stuck his hand out a bit awkwardly. The man, thankfully, took it. His fingers were long and lean, just like the rest of him, and he had a firm grip. "And you are?"

"Merlin," the man replied cheerfully. "I…ah…well…"

"This is…" Arthur attempted to fill in the silence with minimal results, and they were left to staring at each other uncomfortably. He had nice eyes, Arthur noted. Sapphire blue. Like an ocean.

He looked away quickly, feeling a blush creeping up his neck. Merlin gave him a small smile as he noticed it, but then also turned his head, eyes flickering over to where a couple of what looked like bored tech men were sitting, their camera out in front of them, trained on the mismatched pair that were trying not to make eye contact.

"So…Do we just go at it, then?" Merlin asked the cameramen, making vague gestures with his hands in Arthur's general direction. Arthur had to jolt his head backward to avoid getting a finger in his face.

"Yeah, sure, whenever you're ready," said one of the guys as he flipped through his phone. Arthur, meanwhile, glared at Merlin. "Hey, you nearly poked my eye out!"

"Don't be overdramatic," Merlin said with a shrug of his shoulders and a roll of his eyes, and Arthur would have gaped at the sheer rudeness of the man, but Merlin kept talking. "I didn't even touch you."

"Only because I ducked," Arthur pointed out and Merlin's mouth opened slightly in a chuckle.

"I'll give you that," he said. "But I still hold to the fact that I wouldn't have hurt you."

"Of course not," said Arthur, mollified. "I wouldn't have let you."

Merlin's smile turned into a mischievous smirk. "Oh, so it's a question of _letting_, then?"

"I…I…" Arthur was not stammering. He was not blushing. There was a _camera, _for Christ's sakes. There were two men in the corner _watching _them. This was going to be _online. _

Morgana was going to mock him from now until the rest of eternity if he was reduced to a stuttering fool by a black-haired boy with pretty eyes.

Christ, Arthur had just described his eyes as pretty. Abort mission, abort mission, he was going to kill Morgana for talking to him into this.

Bearing all of these things in mind, Arthur spoke, loudly and unabashedly, "I think I want a new partner. This one's rude and entirely without manners."

"Don't think that's how it works, mate," Merlin said, and damnably, he was right. The workers didn't pay Arthur's words any heed. "Come on, relax. You never kiss a bloke before or something?"

Apparently, Merlin was a mind reader, for his eyes widened in realization in the next second. "Shit, you haven't, have you? I've just made a right ass of myself, then. Look, we can find you someone else, surely."

"No, no, it's fine," Arthur placated him, struck by the sudden change. Merlin looked legitimately concerned, and also a thousand times more nervous; he had a deer in the headlights look about him. "I…Let's just do it, yeah?"

"Well, now I have pressure to perform," Merlin pointed out and Arthur raised his eyebrow with a snort.

"Pressure to perform?"

"If this is the first time you've kissed a bloke, you'll compare all your future kisses with blokes in the future to this one," Merlin explained as if he was making a legitimate and Very Important Point of the matter at hand. Arthur just laughed at him.

"And what makes you think I'll be kissing _more_ blokes after today?" Arthur asked him, spreading his hands in a shrugging motion. "Do you think you'll impress me that much with your prowess?"

"That's the dream," Merlin joked and Arthur grinned in response.

"So…so you have…kissed blokes before," Arthur said after a moment, because he disliked not having all of the information at hand. Plus, he needed just a tiny bit of leverage. Merlin already knew something slightly personal about him, it was his turn now.

Merlin nodded in affirmation. "Yep. Quite often. One of my favorite things to do."

"I'll bet," Arthur snorted, and then a question occurred to him, one that twisted the insides of his stomach in a way he hadn't ever felt before. "You…you have a boyfriend, then?"

"Not currently," Merlin said, blinking at Arthur strangely for a moment before his lips curved back into a smile. "You have a girlfriend?"

Arthur shook his head. "No."

"That's…that's good," Merlin said, but his eyes widened in a hasty attempt to correct himself. "No, no, not that it's good that you're not seeing anyone or anything, I just –"

"I – I know what you mean," Arthur said, and somehow, he meant it. They were silent for a beat, eyes resting on one another's. Merlin's were still twinkling sapphires. Arthur's eyes flickered down to his lips. They were rather plump, and very pink. A man had no right to have lips that looked that lovely. Arthur mentally cursed himself for being here, and then cursed Morgana, too, for good measure. This was all her fault.

"We could just…" Arthur began, but his voice trailed off as Merlin took a step forward, bridging the gap between them. He lifted up one hand and curled it around the back of Arthur's neck, his touch cool. His other hand snaked around Arthur's waist, and he leaned in, forehead pressing against Arthur's and lips still very far away, too far away.

"This okay?" Merlin whispered a bit breathlessly. The cameras probably wouldn't catch the words, and Arthur found a strange thrum run through him at the thought. The words obviously weren't for a prospective audience; they were for Arthur and Arthur alone.

"Yeah," Arthur breathed into him. "Yeah, it is."

"Good."

Merlin brought his lips down and sealed them against Arthur's. Unlike his hands, they were warm and pliant and utterly delectable. Arthur found himself wrapping his arms around Merlin's waist, pulling the man closer to him until their bodies were in perfect flush.

Opening his mouth further, Arthur started to kiss back, hesitantly at first but then they quickly surpassed Merlin's own fervor. It wasn't lustful; they were in too public of a scenario for that. But it was sweet and Arthur smiled into Merlin's lips; the other man's hand had somehow found its way upward to tangle in Arthur's hair.

Arthur couldn't say how long the kiss was; it felt like it had lasted minutes, hours, possibly several endless days. All he knew was that when they finally broke apart, Merlin stole one last chaste kiss before he pulled away.

"Was…was that good?" Merlin's voice called to the cameramen, but his eyes remained on Arthur.

"Yeah, brilliant, guys," one of the men called back, voice monotone as if he had slept through the entire spectacle. "You can leave – our director will let you know when we get the editing done and the final version goes online."

Merlin gave them a salute as he walked toward the door of the loft, which was just past Arthur. He stopped when they reached even footing, though, and said with a small, albeit nervous smile "So…"

Arthur, because he would never have another chance, said with a sudden burst of courage "You have a phone number?"

Merlin's grin grew wider. "Yeah. Yeah, I do."


End file.
